Options is here to help you navigate through getting medical help after you have been sexually assaulted.
No one can force you to press charges. Services from Options are NOT dependent upon pressing charges.
24-Hour Helpline & Messaging
Whether you are calling for yourself or a friend, our helpline and messaging is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by one of our advocates to help you with your needs. We will:
- Assess your immediate safety
- Help you with safety planning
- Help you evaluate your needs
- Give you information and referrals
- Give you information about the effects of sexual assault and possible responses
- Give you basic information about medical and legal issues (not legal advice), if requested
- Offer advocacy services
24-Hour Crisis Intervention
Anytime day or night we have advocates on-call to respond to the crisis needs of you and your family. We will:
- Actively listen and explore your options
- Assess your safety and immediate safety needs
- Make referrals, as appropriate
- Provide temporary safe shelter, as needed
24-Hour Medical Advocacy
We can go with you to a sexual assault exam to provide comfort, to help you know what to expect, and what will happen next in the process. We will:
- Ensure your rights and interests are represented
- Help you make informed decisions about your medical care, including a forensic exam
- Provide information about medical options
- Make referrals, as appropriate
- Go with you and sit with you through the exam
- Serve as a liaison between you and medical personnel
24-Hour Law Enforcement Advocacy
If you chose to report your abuse*, we can help you to understand the reporting process, what to expect next, sit with you during your interview, and help you to know your rights. We will:
- Ensure your interests and rights are represented
- Help you make informed decisions about law enforcement involvement
- Give you information about the law enforcement process
- Provide referrals, as appropriate
- Arrange follow-up services with you
- Serve as a liaison between you and law enforcement
- Help you to understand and apply for Crime Victims Compensation, if it applies
*No one can force you to press charges. Services from Options are NOT dependent upon pressing charges.
24-Hour Safe Shelter
If returning home is not a safe option for you, we have a warm and inviting safe house for you and your family. We will:
- Provide safety for you and your family and pets while fleeing sexual assault
- Reduce isolation through contacts with other survivors in the shelter
- Support your efforts to reconnect with your natural support systems
- Provide an environment that is physically safe from people inside and outside the shelter
- Provide a supportive and nurturing environment
- Give you information and referrals based on needs you identify
- Help you use shelter to expand and support your choices
- Help you establish future plans and set goals
- Provide you with education and information about domestic violence
- Provide food and other basic needs with dignity
- Model appropriate relationships and behaviors
- Assess your safety and conduct immediate safety planning
- Affirm your autonomy and dignity
- Help you develop coping skills and a support system
24-Hour Emergency Accommodations
If our safe shelter option is not a good fit for you and your family, we may be able to provide emergency hotel lodging. We will:
- Provide safety for you and your family and pets while fleeing sexual assault
- Provide an environment that is physically safe
- Give you information and referrals based on needs you identify
- Provide food and other basic needs with dignity
- Assess your safety and conduct immediate safety planning
- Affirm your autonomy and dignity
- Help you develop coping skills and a support system
Personal Advocacy
We can help you access needed services (beyond providing information for a referral). We will:
- Assisting with recovering property collected as evidence
- Assisting with managing practical issues created by the victimization
- Accompanying you to appointments with social services
Court Advocacy
We can help you understand and apply for a Protection From Stalking, Sexual Assault or Human Trafficking order (also known as a restraining order or PFSSA). If you choose to press charges and your case goes to court, we can help to understand the court process, know your options, go to court with you to provide support and more. We will:
- Ensure your rights and interests are represented
- Help you make informed decisions about the criminal/civil process
- Give you information about the legal process
- Make referrals, as appropriate
- Arrange and maintain follow-up services throughout the duration of the criminal/civil process
- Arrange transportation, as needed
- Serve as a liaison between your and court personnel
*No one can force you to press charges. Options services are NOT dependent upon pressing charges.
Supportive Counseling
Helps you to develop tools to reduce the impact of your trauma and helps decrease your sense of isolation and sense of shame/self-blame. We will:
- Help you develop safety plans based on your individual needs
- Help you build coping skills and identify support systems
- Affirm your autonomy and dignity
- Give you specific information about domestic violence
- Support and validate your experience
- Offer follow-up services through phone and visits
Support Groups
Helps reduce isolation and increase feelings of “normalcy” as you learn that you are not the only one who “feels this way”. We will:
- Maintain a safe and confidential environment for disclosure
- Give survivor-informed information about sexual assault, potential impacts, trauma, and available resources and services
- Help you to build coping skills and identify support systems
- Affirm your autonomy and dignity
- Support and validate your experience
- Support you in developing healthy and appropriate boundaries
- Help you develop a support system for you and your family
Child & Youth Services
Strengthens resiliency and supports the healing process, and is tailored to be age-appropriate for each child. We will:
- Give age-appropriate information about sexual assault for children and youth
- Assess your child’s needs with you, and also with your child, as age-appropriate
- Conduct individual safety assessment with each child and develop a plan as is appropriate for their age
- Support and validate the experiences of the child or youth in individual or group settings
- Help the child build coping skills and identify support systems
- Provide Personal Advocacy Services for the child or youth
Parent & Child Advocacy
Support child and youth survivors, while strengthening protective and resilience factors, and decreasing risk factors. We will:
- Give information about the impact of battering tactics to you, the protective parent and child and their relationship, including resilience and protective factors
- Give age-appropriate information about domestic violence for your child or youth
- Assess your parent-child needs with you
- Create an individualized safety assessment and develop a safety plan
- Create formal and informal opportunities to strengthen your protective parent-child relationship
- Validate and encourage your existing and newly learned parenting skills
- Support and validate your child or youth’s survivor experience in individual or group settings
- Help you build coping skills and identify your support systems and those of your child or youth
- Resources for LGBTQ parents of children with special needs
Community Awareness & Education
Increases community understanding of the dynamics of sexual assault, the needs of survivors and services available. We will:
- Give educational presentations to community groups and individual about the dynamics of sexual assault, the impact of sexual assault on the general community and victims’ family, services available to victims and their families ways for communities to hold offenders accountable, and opportunities to volunteer or become involved
- Give training about sexual assault to community agencies, organizations, educational institutions, health care professionals, law enforcement professionals, and other allied professionals and youth-serving organizations
- Develop and distribute educational and informational materials